Machine foe



H. BOURNE.

Ore Amalgamator.

Patented Sept. 14. 1843.

n Z n k g t z U U0 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

HENRY BOURNE, OF ELBERTON, GEORGIA.

MACHINE FOR GOLD-WASHING.

Specification of Letters Patent No.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HENRY BOURNE, of Elberton, in the county of Elbertand State of Georgia, have invented a new and useful Improvement inMachinery for Washing for Gold; and I do hereby declare that thefollowing is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, referencebeing had to the accompanying drawing, which forms a part of thisspecification, in which Figure l, is a perspective view of the machine;Fig. 2 runner detached; Fig. 3, section vertically through the machine.

The nature of my invention consists in cutting in the screen whichcovers the leading troughs transverse slits at certain inter valsbetween which the screen is perforated with holes in the usual way andin furnishing the bowl with a runner composed of horizontal cross armsfrom which project downward vertical teeth for stirring the gold sand,&c.

The construction of my machine is as follows: A bowl ((4) of acylindrical form with a concave bottom is cast with a square base (1))attached thereto. This is mounted on a low frame (0) sufficiently highto admit a shallow drawer ((Z) to be slipped in under itin the center ofthe bowl. On the inside a stud (e) is cast which stands up verticallyabout two thirds the depth of the bowl. In the rim of the bowl on oneside a notch (e) is cut out, around which a small flange is made on theoutside, and at a distance of a quarter of the circumference of the bowlthere is a hole (f) made in the side of the bowl about half way betweenthe bottom and top thereof; the first named notch is for the admissionof the material water &c. into the bowl as hereafter described; theother hole in the side is for the egress of the foreign matter as thewashing becomes completed. A frame of four posts (g) is placed aroundthe bowl at the corners of the base. These rise above the bowl and areconnected by cross pins above which serve to support the bearings of ahorizontal shaft- (h) on, one end of which outside the frame there acrank (2') inside the frame this shaft has a bevel cog wheel (is) uponitwhich' works into a bevel pinion (Z) below which is on a verticalshaft one end of which is stepped into the upper end of the stud (6)above named and the upper end has its bears,2e7, dated September 14,1843. p

ing in a collar in a cross brace of the frame; below the pinion (Z) arefour arms (m) standing out from the shaft, from the under side of whichteeth (a) project straight downward. The teeth (a) in one arm traversein the intermediate space between the circle traversed by those in thearm preceding. The inner teeth or those nearest the shaft are soinclined on their faces as to tend to throw the material outward and theouter ones give it the contrary direction. The edges of the teethforward are made thin so as to move easy.

The leading trough (0) is formed of two strips of board, fastened bytheir edges at right angles to each other and covered with a screen Thisscreen is pierced with holes and at regular dlstances slits (g) are cutacross it transversely sothat when the sand &c. is thrown in and thetrough is shaken none of the particles of gold shall. escape between theholes that are not depos ited into the trough through the slits. Themotion is given to the screen by means of a fly wheel (r) and connectingrods (3). The lower end of the screen is beveled ofi on one side so asto conduct the stones and large gravel to one side and deposit themoutside the bowl; and the lower end of the trough has a nose-pieceattached to it so as to conduct the material into the bowl, the aperturebeing of a proper size to regulate the quantity, and this may bepartially closed if found expedient by a sliding valve at the end.

When the machine is to be put into opera tion a quantity of quick silveris put into the bottom of the bowl and the sand &c. is thrown into thetrough. The machine is then set in motion and water is also let in ontothe trough all of which passes down into the bowl except the coarserparticles.

which are thrown off from the screen be low. The whole mass is keptagitated by the teeth on the runner till the metal settles and the sandand other extraneous matter is carried off by the water. The amalgamwhich is left in. the bottom is then drawn off through a hole in thebottom of thebowl into the drawer (cl) under it, said hole being stoppedby a valve (2,) which is attached to and opened by a lever (u) and iskept closed by a weight, wedge or spring. If it is found desirableseveral of the above described bowls can be put in connection 2. I alsoclaim constructing the screen 10 and the gearing sultably arranged forthat in the manner described so that any part1- purpose. cles of goldthat pass down between the What I claim as my invention and desire holesshall be caught at the slits Which are to secure by Letters Patent isformed for that purpose.

1. The employment of the runner con- HENRY BOURNE. structed as hereindescribed in combination \Vitnesses: With the bowl constructed andarranged as J. J. GREENOUGH,

above specified. JOHN Hirz.

